Recipe: Whole Wheat Penne with Onion Sauce

Recipe Source: Bugialli, Giuliano.  Bugialli on Pasta.  Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2000 p. 101

I'm always a little reluctant to use this book, I have to admit it.  It's a perfectly good book with plenty of interesting recipes, but I'm reluctant to give extra publicity to someone with such an objection to "undirected creativity."  I AM undirected creativity and innovation without Mr. Bugialli's guidelines.  My guidelines are my tastes and those of my guests, particularly my husband.  Those are more important to me than adhering slavishly to someone else's vision of what the dish should be.  Unless I'm working on a medieval recipe, in which case I'm trying to showcase the fact that food 1000 years ago didn't have to taste like wallpaper paste, I'm always going to customize my dishes to the needs and tastes of the people I'm feeding.

Take this recipe.  Mr. Bugialli provides variations to make the dish as it is made in Florence and in Campania.  (We will ignore the idea that every housewife in Florence and in Campania makes the dish in an identical way.  I know my own female Neapolitan relatives, none of whom makes her dishes just like any other relative, or just like me for that matter.  I'm just sayin'.)  The Tuscan version is made with butter.  The Campanian is made with a combination of lard and olive oil.  Well, my husband can only tolerate so much butter, and that tolerance had been exhausted in the other dish I was serving that night.  Lard comes from pork.  Even if my husband were willing to eat something cooked in lard - and he's not - the Fearless Fetus has some very strong objections to swine flesh in any form, and as long as we're sharing a digestive system her objections become mine.  Should we then either suffer massive digestive upset in the name of "authenticity?"  Perhaps we should simply not enjoy the recipe?  Sorry, neither was really an acceptable option.  I used olive oil, and you know what?  It came out just fine.  (Minette was suspicious, as you'll see in the second picture, but it really tasted quite good.)  I also ignored the parsley, not being much of a fan of parsley, and I used whole-wheat pasta because I've come to prefer the flavor and to give some added fiber to the dish. 

As a side note to the author, I also happen to really like goat cheese.  In pretty much all its forms (I've seen chocolate-covered goat cheese balls which seem a little suspicious to me.).  So there. 

Whole Wheat Penne with Onion Sauce (serves 4; approx. $1.55/serving)

2 lb red onions, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups white wine

1 cup water

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

12 oz whole wheat penne

Equipment:

• Large, deep saute pan
• Pot to cook the pasta
• Colander
• Bowl

1. Soak the onions in cold water in the bowl for 30 minutes.
2. Drain, then coarsely chop the onions.
3. Heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and saute 10 minutes, covered. 
4. Stir well, lower the heat, and add 1 cup of wine.
5. Cover.  Simmer 1/2 hour.
6. Add 1 cup of wine.  Cover and simmer another 1/2 hour.
7. Add 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and simmer 1/2 hour.
8. Add the second cup of water.  Cover and simmer 1/2 hour.
9. Prepare the pasta in heavily salted water. 
10. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and mix it with the onion mixture.  If your saute pan is not large enough for this, go ahead and dump the pasta into your serving vessel and top it with the onion mixture. 
11. Serve. 

Comments

[Medical Treatment]

Wow, the dish is looks delicious hope to try this at home.